Ripken Bags Doubles Mark

When you’ve reached as many milestones as Cal Ripken Jr., you might think another would not have much significance for baseball’s iron man.

“Not so,” said Ripken. “They’re all special.”

Ripken hit the 500th and 501st doubles of his career and drove in two runs Sunday as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 at SkyDome.

“It seems like when you play long enough those things are bound to happen,” Ripken said. “I saw it on the scoreboard a couple times recently and when you see it, you sometimes try harder to get it and it doesn’t happen. I’m just glad to get it over with.”

Brady Anderson went 3 for 3 and reached base five times and Jeffrey Hammonds hit a two-run homer for the Orioles.

Ripken moved past Goose Goslin into 31st place on the career doubles list. He hit an RBI double in the first inning and scored on a single by B.J. Surhoff.

Indians 5, Yankees 2

Cleveland

Sandy Alomar hit a three-run home run and Brian Anderson pitched seven effective innings, leading to a Cleveland win.

Alomar, who extended his career-high hitting streak to 21 games with a second-inning single, is batting .373.

Anderson (2-1) made his third start since being recalled June 11 from Class AAA Buffalo, where he was 4-0. He allowed two runs and seven hits.

Red Sox 2, Tigers 1

Detroit

Brian Johnson was thrown out at the plate for the final out on a perfect relay as Boston held on to defeat Detroit.

Johnson was running on a 3-2 pitch when Jody Reed doubled into the left-field field corner. Left fielder Wilfredo Cordero quickly got to the ball and threw to shortstop Nomar Garciaparra in short left.

Garciaparra’s throw was in plenty of time for catcher Scott Hatteberg to tag out Johnson.

White Sox 2, Twins 1

Chicago

Jaime Navarro held down Minnesota for eight innings, and Chicago defeated the Twins.

Ray Durham drove in both runs for the White Sox with a pair of sacrifice flies, scoring Ozzie Guillen each time.

Frank Thomas of the White Sox, sidelined since June 7 because of a strained stomach muscle, was activated from the disabled list before the game. He went 0 for 4, dropping his average to .383.

Royals 6, Brewers 5

Milwaukee

Chili Davis hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to rally Kansas City to a win, ending the Brewers’ four-game winning streak.

Milwaukee had taken a 4-3 lead in the seventh with three runs on five consecutive singles.

Chris Haney pitched the eighth and Jeff Montgomery gave up a two-out homer to Jeromy Burnitz in the ninth before getting his second save.

Saturday’s postponed game will be made up Sept. 23 as part of a doubleheader.

Angels 7, Athletics 6

Anaheim, Calif.

Troy Percival retired Jose Canseco on a fly ball to deep left with the bases-loaded in the ninth inning as Anaheim completed a four-game sweep of Oakland.

Jim Edmonds drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for the Angels, who have won all six games between the clubs this season.

With Oakland leading 6-5, Darin Erstad doubled off reliever Aaron Small (5-4) and stopped at third base on a single by Dave Hollins. Hollins stole second and, when catcher George Williams’ throw sailed into center field, Erstad scored the tying run.

Edmonds followed with a line drive to left-center, scoring Hollins.

Clearing the bases

Cleveland avoided becoming the first A.L. team to lose 1,000 games to one opponent. New York leads the 97-year-old series 999-805. … Boston pitching coach Joe Kerrigan approached reserve infielder Mike Benjamin about becoming an emergency pitcher a couple of weeks ago. “I’m a utility guy, so it’s not like I’m going to hurt my arm,” said Benjamin, who pitched a scoreless inning in Boston’s 15-4 loss Saturday night. … Outfielder Jeff Abbott was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to make room on the Chicago roster for Frank Thomas. The White Sox were 6-7 without Thomas.